Political Viewpoint

BY Coun James Courtenay, Leader of the Conservative Group at Southend-on-Sea City Council, Council lor for Chalkwell Ward.
August is usually the quiet month in local government – the so-called “silly season” when politics slows down and everyone briefly pretends nothing dramatic ever happens. Not this year. Instead of a lull, it’s been one of Southend’s most consequential months in recent memory, with major decisions on the Green Belt and policing landing within days of each other.
On Monday 24 August, Southend City Council held an Extraordinary Council meeting, called by the Southend Conservatives in conjunction with other opposition parties. The purpose was simple: to reaffirm the Council’s existing Green Belt policy and face down inappropriate development.
This wasn’t about creating anything new. The Council’s adopted planning framework already protects the Green Belt around our urban area. Residents have been asking for clarity, and they deserved to hear it from their elected councillors.
Southend is surrounded by a generous and beautiful green lung – not just the land north of Bournes Green Chase in the east, but also the Salvation Army land to the west, just outside our boundary. The threat to our Green Belt matters wherever you live. Once a precedent is set for large-scale Green Belt development, it becomes harder to resist future proposals elsewhere.
The motion passed with strong cross-party support. Some Labour councillors voted against it and others abstained. Most notably, the Leader of the Council didn’t register a vote at all. On an issue of this scale, residents must remember that the Labour Leader quite literally did nothing.
The reason for this Extraordinary Council meeting? Only two days later, the Planning Committee considered an application for up to 2,000 homes on Green Belt land north of Bournes Green Chase, with Southend Labour clearly happy to allow a watering down of the Council’s commitment to protect our Green Belt.
Thankfully, the Committee rejected the application by eight votes to two. Conservative, Independent, Liberal Democrat, Reform and Green councillors all voted to refuse it. Only Labour supported it.
This was the right decision. Our infrastructure is already under strain. Thousands of additional homes would place further pressure on roads, GP surgeries, schools, water and sewage systems. None of this can be ignored in the need for housing.
Then there is the Government’s housing target. Southend has been told it must deliver 28,000 new homes – around a 30% increase in dwellings. I am not a NIMBY. While my wife might not be keen on my son moving out when he’s older, I certainly am! We need homes for local families, but meeting our genuine local need does not require sacrificing the Green Belt.
Southend is a coastal city with limited land, already high density and infrastructure under pressure. The target is disproportionate and would mean taking a significant amount of population growth imposed on us from elsewhere. We must challenge this target, drawn up by Whitehall bureaucrats without our local knowledge.
After immense pressure, the Labour Administration has now paused the draft Local Plan, acknowledging that it does not command majority support. Good. We could have told them that a lifetime ago.
However, we urgently need a Local Plan to bring protections into line with newer legislation and people’s priorities today. Too much time has already been wasted.
A sound Local Plan must recognise Southend’s actual capacity and deliver the infrastructure needed alongside development. Without one, we remain exposed to speculative applications.
Residents can be confident as we move to put a better Plan together that Southend Conservatives stood up for them when it counted most and will continue to do so.
The other major issue this month has been policing. The proposed merger of Essex Police into a vast regional “mega-force”, potentially led from as far away as Norwich, would have been disastrous for Southend. The campaign against it was led by Anna Firth, our former MP, with strong support from Roger Hirst, our Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, who organised a well-supported public meeting in Leigh.
Residents, councillors and community groups made their voices heard. These campaigns work – it was announced last week that the plans are to be reconsidered, with Government finally responding to our frustrations with a U-turn. All the while we were campaigning against this unacceptable regional merger, our Labour MP did nothing.
It is disappointing that on policing and housing targets our local Member of Parliament and Council Leader are not on the side of Southend residents. Southend Conservatives will continue to have your back and do what is in residents’ best interests, either on our own or with cross-party support where we can.
This month has shown what can be achieved when councillors are prepared to stand up for Southend. We can get Southend’s voice heard at the Civic Centre and in Westminster.
Picture: Coun James Courtenay, Leader of the Conservative Group at Southend-on-Sea City Council, Council lor for Chalkwell Ward.
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